Pet Peeve #1
November 13th, 2006.I can’t stand it when people use the phrase ‘in my opinion’ in their writing. Of course it’s your opinion! You’re the one writing it, aren’t you? Do you normally write from the point-of-view of someone else?
Ditto on the phrase ‘I believe.’
For example, ‘I believe abortion is wrong.’
Do you? Do you really believe that? Because as the person reading your essay/rant/blog/whatever, that would have never occurred to me! I mean, I normally assume that people record the beliefs of Kermit the Frog as a standard in writing. Good thing you spelled that out for me or I would have been really confused.
Listen, if you don’t have the balls to write commentary without using those two phrases, you shouldn’t be writing. You cheapen and weaken everything you say when you puss out and proclaim ‘well it’s only my opinion!’ Your reader knows it’s your opinion because you wrote it. But now that you’ve invalidated your points by focusing on the fact that you’re allowed to make them (instead of on the points themselves) the only thing you communicate to your readers is that you don’t have very strong convictions.
In other words, say it strong or shut up. The world doesn’t need more babies in the swimming pool.
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